


Statement of an Exhausted Archival Assistant

by lulat



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Exhaustion, Fainting, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, The Magnus Archives Season 3, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:28:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28960968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lulat/pseuds/lulat
Summary: 'M sorry about this..." Martin muttered."No need to apologise." Jon said, his tone was so brusque and so 'Jon' that they could be talking about some inane filing rather than Martin swooning in the office.Martin swallowed reflexively. "No, you don't need to be nice...it's...embarrassing really...""You don’t need to feel embarrassed." Jon said, clearing his throat awkwardly. “I - uhhh - I had a similar incident when I first started working on the statements.”Martin opened his eyes and looked at Jon in surprise.“I’d been at my desk all morning and...uhh...ended up collapsing when I tried to stand up from my chair...""Well thats not embarass-""...Elias caught me.""Oh god!"***Martin has been recording statements for the last few weeks. The effects are starting to catch up with him.Set during Season 3.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 45





	Statement of an Exhausted Archival Assistant

"E-End of recording" 

Martin sighed and clicked off the tape. The moment he did so he felt the - at this point familiar - rush of energy leaving his body. 

He didn't understand how Jon could have tackled so many of these statements over the last 2 years. A few weeks into his assigned project and - even taking Jon's advice and involving the team as much as possible - Martin was still really feeling the effects. This was his second statement of the day and the aftermath of this last recording - a particularly nasty incident involving a restaurant in Peterborough - had made him feel like he'd run a triathlon. 

Time for some more tea he thought to himself. Martin had been hoping to do a third statement today but as soon as he stood his muscles screamed in protest. Maybe it would be best to save that statement until tomorrow. Or the day after even. 

He'd been working in the dingy archives all morning so emerging at the top of the stairs the artificial light of the office was almost blinding and he winced slightly at the glare. He made his way over to the break room, flicked the kettle on, and stood with his palms pressed against the work surface. His head was pounding. 

"Alright Martin?" 

There might be some paracetamol in one of his desk drawers...that at least might calm the headache...

"Martin?" 

"Hmmm…." Martin said, dragging his gaze away from his hands in front of him to look at Tim who was standing in the doorway with a slightly concerned look on his face. 

"Are you alright? I was calling your name for a little while there." 

"Yes, sorry." Martin said, rubbing a hand across his eyes, "Been reading statements all morning..." 

"Ah say no more!" Tim said, brushing into the kitchen, opening the cupboard and taking down a couple of mugs. "How about you sit down whilst I make the tea then!" 

"Oh." Martin said, "I - thank you..." 

"Don't mention it." He said gently pushing Martin towards the break room table with one hand as he opened the box of teabags with the other. Martin sighed and stumbled over to collapse - a little heavily - into one of the chairs.

The sight of Tim making tea was quite soothing really, Martin thought as he propped his head up on his elbows and watched him. It was a familiar ritual in the Institute. They all knew each other's drink orders off by heart. 

"You never do this for Jon." Martin commented as Tim poured the milk. 

Tim snorted. "That's because Jon's an arsehole." He glanced over at Martin with a wry smirk on his face. "Plus with you at his beck and call I hardly get a chance to offer." 

Martin blushed. "I-I mean I don't-" 

"I’m just messing with you Martin" 

Martin smiled slightly. Now that he was sat down he felt exhausted again. Even in the chair he could feel the ache in every one of his muscles and his hand was shaking slightly against the table. It felt like he was coming down with the flu or something. 

Martin took a deep breath. If it was at all possible he was beginning to feel worse. The thud of his pulse seemed to reverberate in his head and his vision was starting to get a little hazy. 

Martin jumped a little as the mug was placed down in front of him. Tim was chatting away as Martin stared at the mug a little vaguely. The kitten design on it was starting to blur in and out of focus...

"-two sugars, right?" 

"Sorry?" 

Tim was looking at Martin with concern again. "You still take two sugars don't you?" 

"Oh yes, yes, that's it-" 

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" 

Martin wasn't sure. Tim, the mug, the table, they were all starting to be overtaken by static spots that engulfed his vision…

"Martin?" 

He blinked hard, trying to clear the spots but everything was still fuzzy...

"Uhh...Yeah I um...." 

Oh God everything was spinning now. The thumping in his head was being taken over by static noise. And then with a sudden wave of lightheadedness he felt the blood drain from his face... 

"I uhh...I t-think i'm...going to faint..." 

"What!" 

And then Martin felt himself slip from the chair and his vision blacked. 

***

He was dimly aware of the fall, but when his sight cleared he still felt confusion at finding himself lying sprawled on the floor and staring at the leg of the break room table. His head was aching. But now his shoulder ached too. He must have landed on it...

"Martin can you hear me?" Tim gasped. He had clearly only just moved to a standing position as he went to hover above Martin's head and then kneel down next to him. 

"...yes..." Martin murmured weakly.

"Are you ok?" 

"I...uhhh...." His hands were still shaking as he tried to prop himself up on his elbows. The room was swirling around him...

Tim's hands reached out instinctively. 

"Lie back down Martin." He said, gently pushing him so that he was lying on his back, this time staring up at the ceiling. 

There was movement from the doorway. 

"I heard a crash is everything- ! Martin?" 

Oh god it was Jon. 

Jon was here. 

Why was Jon here? Martin didn't know he was going to be in the office today. Martin hadn't even known for sure that he was in the country...

"What happened?" Jon directed as his footsteps approached them. 

"He passed out. Fell out of his chair." 

Jon had reached them now and his face appeared in Martin's line of sight, creased with worry. 

"It's those damn statements - he's been doing them all morning!" Tim said. 

Jon's expression softened. 

"Ah." He said, "I see..." 

Martin closed his eyes. The floor was still spinning underneath him and he took a few deep breaths as Tim and Jon started talking above him. Martin couldn't find it in himself to concentrate on them. 

Maybe he could just lie here a little longer. If they'd just leave him he could drift off to sleep in the peace and quiet... 

Martin was jolted back to awareness at the sudden pressure of a damp rag on his forehead. 

He flinched a little, opening his eyes, and was surprised to see Jon wielding the flannel, knelt down next to him. His touch was gentler than Martin would have expected. 

"Sorry." Jon said, "this should help with the headache" 

Martin nodded meekly. 

"How many did you do today?" Jon asked softly. 

"Uhhh two...this morning..." 

Jon nodded. 

"They...uhh..they're not something you should do a lot of in one go. I'm sorry I should have warned you..." 

"He shouldn't be doing them to begin with." Tim muttered darkly. 

Instead of snapping at Tim, like Martin expected, Jon just nodded at him. 

"You're right he shouldn't." 

Tim looked a little surprised at the admission. In any case he fell silent - any further demonstrations dying on his lips. 

“Are you feeling any better?” Jon asked, returning his attention to Martin.

“Umm...yes...a little…”

"Then you should go home." Jon said, "Rest up. It's the only thing that really helps…" 

Martin nodded. He didn’t see any point in arguing. 

“I drove in today.” Tim said, “I can drop you back at your flat.”

“Oh, you don’t have to-”

“That would be great, thank you Tim” Jon said, cutting over Martin’s protests.

Tim nodded. “I’ll just get my keys.”

He got up from his position next to Martin and left the room. Martin sighed, closed his eyes, spreading his fingertips to grip the grubby floor in an attempt to ground himself. He wasn’t feeling dizzy anymore but he still felt exhausted. He really hoped he wouldn’t end up falling asleep in the car…

"'M sorry about this..." Martin muttered. 

"No need to apologise." Jon said, his tone was so brusque and so 'Jon' that they could be talking about some inane filing rather than Martin swooning in the office. 

Martin swallowed reflexively. "No, you don't need to be nice...it's...embarrassing really..." 

"You don’t need to feel embarrassed." Jon said, clearing his throat awkwardly. “I - uhhh - I had a similar incident when I first started working on the statements.” 

Martin opened his eyes and looked at Jon in surprise. 

“I’d been at my desk all morning and...uhh...ended up collapsing when I tried to stand up from my chair..." 

"Well thats not embarass-" 

"...Elias caught me." 

"Oh god!" Martin exclaimed, and then despite himself let out a snort of laughter. 

Jon smiled meekly, then sighed and looked down with a tired expression on his face. 

“I am sorry, Martin. You shouldn't be pushing yourself this hard just because i'm not around as much. I’ll speak to Elias see if I can get him to put less pressure on the rest of you to-”

“It’s fine Jon.” Martin said gently, “It’s not your fault.”

Jon sighed. “I don’t think many other people would agree with you at this point…”

Martin was about to respond when Tim walked back into the room, keys in hand.

“Ready to go?”

Martin nodded and slowly let Tim and Jon help him to sit up and then at an even slower pace move to standing. 

“Will you need a hand getting to the car?” Jon asked, his hand still gripping Martin’s elbow as he wavered unsteadily next to him. 

“We’ll manage.” Tim said, although it seemed debatable as to whether he actually thought this or whether he was only saying so to escape Jon’s company. 

Jon didn’t look convinced either, but nodded at Tim and then looked back at Martin. 

“Don’t hurry back to work. Take a few days. I'll sort it with Elias. ”

“T-thank you Jon.” 

"You don't need to thank me." Jon said, softly. "Just...take care of yourself." 

***

The drive to his flat was done in relative silence. Martin would like to say that he didn’t spend the journey thinking about the way that Jon’s palm had touched the small of his back whilst leading him out of the break room. 

But that would be a lie.

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been working my way through The Magnus Archives and now that I’m on Season 3 I felt brave enough to post a whump fic. I’m aware every other fic writer for MAG has written something similar to this but I hope you still enjoy it!


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